Diamond Dust
by Satashi
Summary: Nanoha is hurt after a mission so Fate does everything she can to take care of her. Major Shoujoai. chapter 3 revised 4 28 2007
1. Diamond Dust

It was a simple mission to say the least, something that I could have easily done by myself in a little under five minutes if I so desired to. Right now, however, I was training Subaru, my favorite student. I let her lead and followed her commands precisely, only stopping to give my own thoughts when I was unsure if her plan would work or not. I was really proud right now; we had managed to get into the research lab with only minor resistance and no alert had been signaled just yet. My pupil contacted me telepathically, telling me what she was about to do and asked for assistance. With a cheerful nod, I smiled at her, grabbing her shorts and yanking her back down when she tried to leap into action. She gave me an inquisitive look and I simply pointed upwards where a security camera was slowly scanning the room. Subaru looked dumbstruck a moment before hanging her head. I was going to knock at least five points off her score for that little mistake and she knew it.

**Diamond Dust**

**By: **

**Satashi**

Finally reaching the door leading into the main laboratory where the target lost logia was, we pressed ourselves against both sides of the door and nodded to each other. I let her go in first and she quickly knocked out both guards by the door, startling the lone scientist in the room. "Dr. Alex Wily," She stated his name firmly. "Despite several warning and request for you to turn over your research to the Time-Space Administration Bureau, you have continued without a reply. I am here to place you under arrest, please surrender quietly; if you do you will be given a fair trial." She watched the man walk behind a counter as she talked, eying him carefully. The man's lips went up into a faint smile, making Subaru blink. Before she could react several chains shot out of hidden chambers around the girl. Most were dodged but when one managed to lodge itself into her rollerblades and she quickly tripped up and fell over.

"You talk too much," Nanoha sighed, easily breaking the bonds around her. "Next time just get to the point." She helped the girl to her feet after blasting away the remaining binding chains with a wave of her hand. "Like this," She faced the man. "Put your hands up and come here or we'll use force!" The scientist pulled out a gun and aimed it, firing several shots and sending small beams of light towards the girls. "Down!" Nanoha tackled Subaru and pushed her onto the floor, covering her student as best she could. "Laser beams! Why do they always have laser beams!?" The two put their backs against the counter they were hiding behind and Nanoha threw a small temper tantrum. "So help me if I have to use that burn cream after getting shot I'm failing you!"

"Ah! Don't do that!" Subaru pleaded apologetically. "I didn't know he'd have traps and advanced weaponry!"

"Always plan for the worst!" Nanoha cried out, holding up Raging Heart in her standard staff form. "I'm giving you one cartridge to finish this," The woman slid a shell from her pack and handed it to Subaru. "These pack a more serious punch than the ones you're used to so be careful with it and plan out what you're going to do before you do it okay?"

"Yes Ma'am!" Subaru took the offered shell and slid it into her power glove. '_One shot…_' Her mind raced, looking around the counter at the panicking man who was moving his gun back and forth to different parts of the room. '_He's nervous,_' She noted with a smug look. '_That means he'll jump to anything… In that case,_' The girl looked at Nanoha and nodded to show that her plan had been formed. Quickly she grabbed a glass beaker from the table and threw it across the room. When the container shattered the man instantly started shooting frantically over in that direction. "Load cartridge!" The girl felt the world around her shatter into slow motion as her Wing Road blasted around the room, taking her with it. '_such power!_' Her mind screamed, feeling her glove start to burn her hand from the magic it still hadn't used. "Divine… Buster!" She punched the area in front of her, now to the side of the man in white lab coat.

The destruction was catastrophic, taking out at least half of the science lab and sending everyone else stationed there in a blind panic to escape the now burning building. The man they were after was stunned on the floor, the lost logia revealed from his torn and burnt coat. "I'll take that," She glared, reaching down and picking it up, showing it into a special pouch. "Mission complete!" She turned to Nanoha and gave a peace sign. "How was that, teacher?"

"Watch out!" Nanoha leapt forward onto a counter before using her magic to speed herself up. Subaru turned to look at why her instructor had just freaked out and saw the man she thought was down for the count throwing a small glass vial at her. Instinct took over and her fist flew. "No, don't break it!" Nanoha cried too late, seeing glass flew and glittering dust splatter into the air. With no other choice she tackled her friend, feeling her arm get clipped by a laser as she did so. Breathing in a grunt of pain, she felt a strange tingling sensation on the back of her neck.

The two landed roughly and the more experienced mage finally look the matters into her own hands, shooting a simple blast over at the man, knocking him into a counter. "First rule!" She yelled, walking over to him and cracking the man upside the head with Raging Heart. "Never think they are down for the count." She lifted her staff again when he reached into his pocket and batted away the man's wrist forcefully, knocking away some other type of device. "Even when they _are_ down, don't think they won't have something hidden. Second Rule," Nanoha turned around to face her, once more clipping the man across the head with her staff, although this time by accident "Never cause unwanted attention or destruction!" She threw her arms out, jabbing the man in the chest with the staff's tip, knocking him back over when he barely managed to stand without even realizing it. "Third Rule, never let your guard down at any time until you are back at base!" Nanoha stomped her foot, crushing the man's hand while he tried to crawl away desperately. "And Fourth rule…!" Nanoha thrust her staff downwards, pinning the man harshly. "…When I think of a fourth rule I'll tell you!"

"Please! No more!" The man begged pathetically, trying to crawl towards Subaru. "I give up! I give up! Just don't let her hurt me anymore!"

Nanoha blinked and looked down. "…What happened to him?" She asked innocently.

* * *

Nanoha crossed her arms, clearly upset at the way things turned out. They were currently in a helicopter flying back to the rendezvous point with their prisoner locked safely in the holding cell. Her arm was stinging horribly and she knew there would be a blister there that she would eventually have to have Shamal cut to release the pressure from any internal bleeding. The thought made her cringe in her seat, making Subaru glance nervously over at her. The instructor noticed the scared look and put on a smile for her. "Don't worry Subaru, you didn't fail." Her anger slowly died away as she talked. "I was a little disappointed in how you acted, but overall you did really well. Once you learn how to calm down a little you'll be doing great."

"Sorry," She looked down in her lap. "My first mission too…"

"Don't worry, don't worry." Nanoha patted the girl's head. "Next time will be better." A small monitor appeared between them next, making Nanoha lean back a little. "Ah, Fate-chan! How did it go?"

"Perfectly!" She greeted her friend, obviously pleased. "Elio and Rushie were amazing! Nanoha-chan, I'm really proud of them!"

"Ohhh?" She smiled at her friend. "Can I talk to them?"

"They're both passed out asleep," Fate turned and led the monitor over to the seats behind her where Elio was laid back with Rushie apparently cuddled up under his arm with one hand gripping the front of his shirt. "You should have seen it, Rushie was going to get hit by an attack and Elio jumped in front of her with his shield. It was the sweetest thing ever."

"Awww, how cute!" Nanoha cried out. "Did you take their picture?"

"A few of them," Fate replied quietly before going back to her seat and sitting in it. "How did Subaru do?"

"Great. We had a little trouble at the end, but it all worked out well." Nanoha rubbed her arm, making Fate narrow her eyes. "I'm fine really." When Fate didn't say anything Nanoha sighed and rolled her sleeve back to reveal a long dark red mark on her skin. "I got clipped by a laser."

"Ouch!" Fate made a face. "Make sure Shamal looks at it when you get back okay?"

"Yes, yes." Nanoha pulled her sleeve back down and playfully saluted her friend. "We're approaching base now so I'll see you later, Fate-chan." Her blond friend smiled at her before the monitor blipped out of existence. Nanoha looked over at Subaru's concerned expression and gave her another smile. "I'm fine, don't worry. It takes more than this to get me down," Her smile faulted lightly when she suddenly coughed a few times. "Ack, I inhaled wrong." The words made her student finally crack a smile.

* * *

"Hello, Nanoha-chan," Shamal greeted the girl happily when she walked into the medical room of the base. "What brings you here today? Need some bandages for your students?" She giggled happily. "You didn't go too rough on them again did you?"

"Ah, no, they're fine." Nanoha smiled uneasily, holding her arm and looking away lightly.

With a sigh, Shamal put a hand on her hip. "Come on, let me see." She patted a bed and pulled a curtain around them when Nanoha walked past. "What happened?"

"I got hit by a high tech laser-type devise," Nanoha admitted, unbuttoning her jacket and very slowly slipping her arm out with the light blonde's help. Once done she took a small moment to observe that her long sleeve undershirt had a rather nasty looking bloodstain on it. "It's no where near as bad as that makes it look," She told her friend instantly, undoing the buttons on that shirt as well and slipping only that arm from the sleeve.

"Oh my," Shamal looked worried. "That's quite a nasty burn you have there." Quickly she gathered a few things and began to clean the wound. "Did it get you deep?"

"Just a glance, I can still move my fingers just fine. It only really _hurts_ when I make a fist." The girl turned her head and coughed a few times. "Excuse me."

"On a scale of one to ten, how bad does it hurt?"

"Four maybe?"

"So that's about a seven on anyone else's scale," She mused, making Nanoha wonder if she was being complimented or teased. "I hate to say it but it's going to leave a rather large blister that might have a faint scar depending on how you let it heal."

Scars were nothing new to the girl, as she had several racking her body. Fortunately each one was so small that they would be missed by most anyone unless she was being closely observed. "I'd rather avoid that if possible. Can you just heal it?"

"Healing doesn't really work well on burns," She told her, repeating the same thing she always said when Nanoha came in with an injury like this. "We'll have to apply a cream on it and wrap it in a bandage. I'd prefer it if you wore a sling to keep you from flexing that muscle… you're left handed too aren't you? Poor thing," Shamal pet Nanoha's head.

"I don't want to wear a sling!" She protested instantly.

"You're going to wear a sling," Shamal confirmed, getting the burn cream and some magically infused healing bandages.

"I don't wanna!"

"You're going to wear a sling," She repeated happily, always amused at how quickly Nanoha would act like a child when it came to keeping her in top shape.

"No!"

"Nanoha-chan, I'm authorized to magically seal your powers until this heals you know." She smiled gently at the girl, who instantly sank back.

"…Yes ma'am…" Her eyes widened slightly as a coughing fit racked her body, making her double over and cover her mouth.

"Are you okay?" Shamal quickly got a glass of water and offered it to the girl, who drank it quickly, making a face.

"My throat hurts…" she rubbed it ruefully, wincing. "I think I got some glass in it when I inhaled…" Suddenly she found Shamal in front of her with a tongue depressor. Obediently opening her mouth, she stuck out her tongue and allowed her mouth to be inspected with a pen light. Her mind flashed back to when she tackled Subaru and felt the glittering substance coat her throat and mouth when the vial had been broken. When she was free to speak again, she opened her mouth to speak. "Actually…"

Just then the door opened and someone shouted out for help, making Shamal quickly leave the girl after telling her to stay put. Nanoha looked out the curtain and winced at seeing the man draped over the shoulder of his friend, bleeding. Time went by slowly and when someone came to check up on her she found that her friend was busy in emergency surgery so she allowed the nurse to apply the medicine on her arm and wrap it up. A spare shirt was given to her and she allowed the nurse to help put it on before her arm was confounded to the sling.

* * *

Fate opened the door to her loft apartment and immediately loosened her collar. "Nanoha-chan, I'm home!" Her voice rang out through the rooms but she got no reply. " Nanoha-chaaaaaan?" Fate turned off the Monitor in the living room that doubled as their T.V. Now with the noise gone she heard the faint sound of running water. The girl climbed the stairs to their bedroom and took off her jacket, hanging it up next to the bed, before going to the bathroom and opening the door. "Nanoha-chan?"

"Kya, Fate-chan's a pervert!" Nanoha accused instantly, turning so her back was facing her friend.

"Don't give me that," Fate crossed her arms. "Who was it that begged me to wash her back last night?"

"Oh, I did, didn't I?" Nanoha thought aloud, pretending to think about it. "In that case I'll forgive you for being a perv." She turned around to look at her, revealing her arm. "Actually…"

"Oh my, why is it in a sling?" Fate quickly walked over to her and Nanoha stepped out of the spray of water so her friend wouldn't get wet. "Are you okay?" She observed the bandages, watching the water roll off of them like it wasn't even getting wet at all.

"I'm okay, it doesn't really hurt that bad. Only down side is I can't use my arm until it heals or it'll heal wrong and scar, or something like that. Shamal seemed to think so at least. It's my left arm so I'm kind of in a pickle, I can't even wash my hair."

"I'll do it for you, just wait a little bit."

"Really? Thank you, Fate-chan!" She moved to hug the girl but stopped herself just in time. "Oh, um, I'll hug you when you're naked."

"That sounds _so_ wrong."

Nanoha smiled at her. "It's okay, I don't mind." She watched her friend's cheeks turn lightly before she herself moved to leave the bathroom and get a change of cloths, pausing at the door to offer her one more glance at her embarrassed but happy face.

* * *

Nanoha blushed darkly, sitting on her bed completely naked with a large fluffy towel being rubbed though her hair. She had to admit that it felt rather nice, but her face was still dark- and not from the hot water she was just in either. Once her hair was reasonably damp instead of sopping wet, Fate moved down to her shoulders. Gently rubbing the towel over them, Fate smiled at the small moans coming from her friend. "Like that?" She asked softly, getting an embarrassed nod. She moved behind her friend and sat on her knees, slowly drying her off. The towel rubbed her back gently, pressing down enough to absorb the water as well as a pleasant rub as well. "Arms," She asked, getting Nanoha to raise her good arm instantly to be dried and then her injured one followed much more carefully. Once complete, Fate moved over to her friend's other side, putting the towel against her front and rubbing.

"Ah-ahnn," Nanoha gasped out involuntarily when her breast were dried, making her friend instantly flush and apologize. "Nuh-uh, it's okay…" She looked away softly, pressing her chest forward against Fate's hands through the towel. Her friend didn't reply, instead running the towel over her body again. Nanoha gently moaned out, trying her best to keep from embarrassing herself even more. All too soon it was over and Fate moved down to her waist and legs, keeping all the important parts covered to spare herself a nose bleed.

"There, dry." Fate went away quickly, moving to dry herself off properly as well. '_What was Hayate-chan thinking, giving us a room like this?_' She looked over at her friend, who was taking her night shirt off of a coat hanger clumsily. '_As if seeing her naked in a public bath house wasn't bad enough…_' Despite her thoughts, she also had to admit that she was very happy at the same time. "Here, let me help."

"Thank you," Nanoha allowed herself to be clothed by the knee length shirt and watched Fate slowly button it up, looking away slightly when she got to the lower clasp. "Nyahaha," The giggle made Fate look at her in question but only got a cute look in return. Her sling was put in after sliding up a simple pair of panties while Fate used the time to dress herself as well, choosing rather to wear a dress from her childhood that had been retailored to fit her more mature body. It was a simple black dress with exposed shoulders and long baggy sleeves, complete with tie strings at the end incase she need them out of her way. When left loose, like it normally was, the sleeves almost engulfed her hands, giving her a rather cute look. Once Nanoha had even bought her a cat ear headband and had insisted that she wear it anytime she wore that particular dress. The habit lasted the good part of three months before the headband was lost during a midnight scramble to battle. At first she was happy to be rid of the cosplay accessory, since Nanoha always made sure she wore it even around their other friends, but soon after it was lost did she really start to miss it. Her hand went to run through her hair a moment, remembering the happy smile Nanoha always had when she would look at her while wearing it.

"Fate-chan lost in thought?" Nanoha's words snapped her out of her trance. "Hehe, what was you thinking about?"

"Nothing really." Fate walked over to her. "What do you want to do?

"Well," the brown haired girl sat on the bed, summoning up a few monitor screens in front of her. "Tia took her test yesterday and Subaru was graded by me personally so I already know her grade. I need to know about Elio and Rushie particularly if you don't mind telling me?

"Sure," Fate sat next to her and typed a few things up. "Here is the information on their devices." She watched Nanoha attempt to try and type something but stopped when she remembered her left hand wasn't useable currently. "Here, let me." The girl crawled behind her on the bed and sat down, moving her legs on either side of Nanoha's body and pressing her front against the other girl's back. "What do you want to see?"

"Chart displays on power synced to video, please." She saw Fate's arms reach around her and type the commands, bringing it up. "Also give me a time frame on upper left corner?" The hands dances a little more, making it pop up. "Hey, I could get used to this," She snuggled up against Fate, leaning back and resting her head against her shoulder.

"Hey, are you going to cuddle or work?" Fate teased, but still allowed one arm to wrap around her waist to hold her.

"Both," She replied easily with a smile. "Play video, please." She covered her mouth to cough a moment before looking up to watch.

* * *

Nanoha awoke abruptly, eyes snapping open in the dark. A sudden fear seized her body as her dream of drowning faded, replaced by something much more real. She could feel her body was covered in a cold sweat and her chest was alive with a fire that she had never experienced before. Her mind screamed for her to take a breath, that she wasn't really in the water, but for some reason her lungs wouldn't listen. Seconds ticked by painstakingly slow as she tried harder to get air into her system. Finally she managed to roll over on her back and found that the motion made it a little easier but still her mouth couldn't seem to suck in any oxygen.

Slate blue eyes darted across the room in fear, her breath barely moving at all. Her eyes closed tightly then as she forced herself to try and think straight. '_Breathe! Breathe! BREATHE!_' the mental command worked, allowing herself to take in half a ragged gasp of air, but quickly lost most of it when her throat shot pain throughout her body. The girl coughed slightly, but it was enough to fleck her lips with blood. Blinded by her fear, Nanoha moved her hands, grasping the sheets of the bed and pushing with her feet, as if it would allow her to once again taste air. The silence of the room was broken softly by a low mumble beside her. '_Fate! FATE!_' Her hand moved spastically, cursing the large bed they shared as she tried to find her friend. Frozen in place, she tried again, reaching out desperately to find her while her other hand was tearing at her shirt, trying to find some way, anyway, to allow herself to breathe.

Her hand touched the soft silk of Fate's nightgown and she gripped it tightly, desperately pulling. "Mnnn…" Fate muttered something under her breath and tried to scoot away from her to give her friend more room. Again she tried to find her, hand inching closer as another cough stole more of the precious little air she managed to suck in. She could feel a mixture of her own blood and salvia run down her cheek as she silently suffocated, frantically reaching over. Finally she felt Fate's arm and she gripped it, pulling with everything she had left, burying her nails into her friend's skin in a frightened attempt to wake her up. "Nanoha-chan, that hurts…" Fate whispered, trying to move her hand lightly. When she realized how hard she was being gripped her body rolled over, half focusing on her. "Nanoha-chan…?" The brown haired girl's body spasmed, making her grip get tighter and hurting Fate enough to wake up fully "Ow! What's wrong with you!?" The light above their bed came on the dimmest setting, finally allowing Fate to see her friend. "Nanoha-chan!? Nanoha what's wrong!?"

The suffocating girl met her friend's eyes, silently pleading for help. Her hand against her nightgown finally tore the first button loose and she placed the hand on her chest, scratching at it. "Contact: Shamal!" Fate screamed, undoing the buttons on her friend's shirt as a transparent monitor appeared in front of her.

"We are sorry, the person you are calling is unavailable-"

"Emergency contact!" Fate cried again, seeing several claw marks on her friend's chest where she had apparently been scratching herself in her sleep. The monitor turned to a dark room. "Shamal! Shamal! Wake up! _Shamal!_" a moment later the monitor brightened up as the lights in the mage's room came on and she sat up. "Nanoha's not breathing!" She called, voice cracking as tears poured down her face. "She's suffocating!"

Instantly awake, the green mage scrambled out of bed. "Details," she managed out, scrambling for a few supplies, tripping over her chair in her hurry.

"I-I don't know!" She panicked. "Her eyes are wide, she's trying to tear into her chest and her mouth is bleeding!"

"Is she breathing at all!?" Shamal found what she needed and barged out of her room, monitor following in front of her.

Fate leaned over her friend's mouth and listened, holding her own breath to try and keep the sounds as silent as she could. "In very small puffs, she's exhaling more than inhaling!"

Nanoha looked up at her friend, starting to not panic as much anymore but rather finding herself starting to get sleepy again. Sound was starting to get farther and farther away, despite Fate being right there, yelling at her to open her eyes again. '_It'd be so easy to go to sleep…_' her mind thought as her vision was finally robbed from her. '_So easy…so easy…_'

Pain was the next thing she felt. Her nose was clamped and Fate's lips were on hers, forcing air into her lungs. Now finally with lungful of air, she did the first thing that she possibly could, and screamed in terror and pain.

"Lung paralysis," Shamal was telling Fate. "In short it makes it so her lungs can't move, therefore suffocating her. Her throat was probably hurt by whatever she breathed in. Just keep doing CPR, no matter what you hear me? I don't care if you punch her to make her exhale!"

Fate pushed Nanoha's hands down and pinned them, pressing her mouth against hers again and filling her lungs with air once again. The pain returned ten fold, making Nanoha once again let out a death defiling scream of agony. Her body twisted under Fate's hold, trying with everything it had to get away from what was making her hurt. Tears poured down her face from her closed eyes, running into her ears before finally seeping into her hair.

The door to the room opened and all at once the lights cut on. "Up here!" Fate called, seeing the girl fly up to them and land on the bed.

"Hold her mouth open." Shamal ordered, getting a light and looking down the girl's throat as she bit harshly on Fate's fingers. "Thought so," She frowned, opening her purse and taking out a rather large looking inhaler device. "Nanoha!" The name made the girl look, fear evident in her eyes once again. "Breath this in! you can do it!" She wrestled with the girl, putting the mouthpiece behind her lips. "Go!" she pulled the lever, making the girl's cheeks puff out as air was shot into her. When it was removed, Nanoha gave a violent coughing fit, small glittering flakes coming out in masses, covered lightly in blood. "Again!"

Fate struggled to hold the girl, pain tearing into her own heart at the pain she was causing her best friend and secret love. Twice she had to press down roughly on her chest to get the girl to exhale; both times sure she left a bruise. The method of making her inhale from the device went on seven times before finally she coughed out, starting to spit as well. A ragged intake of air happened next and Shamal helped her over so she was on her hands and knees, coughing and spitting out blood and flecks of the glittery like substance.

"Breathe in this and exhale," Shamal told her gently, offering her a smaller inhaler. "It'll hurt but keep at it." Nanoha nodded weakly, sucking in the device and exhaling slowly before repeating. Fate rubbed her back gently, trying to encourage her as best she could. "I thought she might have hurt her throat on her mission," She informed Fate softly. "I didn't know it would be this bad."

"She'll be okay, right?" Fate was crying in earnest now.

"Yes, yes she'll be fine." Shamal encouraged her, gently taking Nanoha's wrist so she could count the pulse. When done, she looked back over at Fate. "She inhaled something that caused a slow paralysis of the lungs. If she didn't get treated she would have certainly died…" She felt her own heart ache at the expression Fate just gave her. "Don't fret now," She hastily added. "Fortunately it was a rather weak substance, so she'll be completely okay in about a week. Until then she will need to use an inhaler to help clean her lungs and dissipate anything left in there."

Nanoha slowly started to get her breathing under control, weakly falling against Fate and resting against her body. "Ou….Ouch…" She whispered, eyes closed. "Ow… Ow… Ow…" Once again tears came to her eyes and she allowed herself to cry again. "I was…" Her breath caught as she sobbed. "So scared!" Her arms grabbed a hold of Fate's and held tight. "Fate! Fate!"

Shamal felt a tear come to her own eye as well, seeing one of her best friends reduced to a shivering little girl, clinging onto the only form of support she had. "If she can breathe enough to cry and talk at the same time, I say the worst is over." She allowed Fate to stroke Nanoha's hair and whisper to the girl while she got a few things from her purse. "Here," She gently put a small yellow necklace around Nanoha's neck. "This will monitor her breathing. If it gets anywhere close to being abnormal, it'll alert me immediately."

"Thank you," Fate whispered, holding her friend.

"She's safe to rest now," Shamal put the inhalers on their desk and closed her purse. "Do you mind if I sleep here tonight?"

"Not at all," Fate answered instantly, watching her smile and gently stroke Nanoha's hair.

"I'll be downstairs. Don't worry, it's over now." With that, she nodded at Fate and made her way downstairs so the two could spend some time alone and calm down.

"Nanoha…are you okay?" Fate said the words gently as the lights went off around them, now only being illuminated by the small dim light above their bed.

"Yes…" She answered softly, voice a little horse. "I'm okay…" To prove the point to herself, or Fate, she took a long slow intake through her nose and let it out even slower. "Wow, air taste good."

Fate let out a small tear stained chuckle. "If you can joke like that, you'll be fine, huh?"

"Mmhmm…" Nanoha nodded weakly. "Please keep holding me, Fate."

"Of course," She shifted so her back was resting against the headboard of the bed and Nanoha was laying against her, between her legs and in her arms. "Nanoha, I was so scared too…"

"I'm sorry," She whispered back.

"Don't apologize you silly girl," A small tear dropped onto Nanoha's hair. "If I ever lost you, I'd… I don't know what I'd do…"

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha turned to look up at her, "Will you kiss me, Fate-chan?" The words shocked her friendly lightly. "When I was about to sleep..." She took a small breath. "I thought… just for a moment... That I was going to die without ever kissing you…"

Fate nodded, leaning over and gently kissing Nanoha's lips. The intimate moment lasted three seconds before she pulled back and immediately kissed her forehead as well. "Nanoha…"

"That sounds kind of nice," She admitted, looking up at her. "When we're alone…can I call you 'Fate'?"

"Of course. You can call me whatever you want." She nuzzled her friend, still crying slightly. "Oh god, Nanoha… There were so many things that ran through my mind. So many things I wanted to say…" For once, it didn't seem hard to even think about saying it anymore. Her fears were gone and all that mattered at the moment was letting her know; to tell her friend what she had been keeping to herself for so long "Nanoha; I love you, Nanoha. I really, _really_ love you." Fate bent over and wrapped the girl tighter in a hug. "It's okay if you don't feel the same, I just have to let you know…"

"Of course I love you," She replied in a whisper. "I've always loved Fate." Her arms wrapped around her and she contently laid against her shoulder, breathing out as steady as she could. "I was just waiting until you were comfortable."

"Silly girl…" Fate sniffed, wiping her eyes.

"Nya…haha."

* * *

To be continued. 


	2. Air

I awoke slowly, pushing myself up in bed groggily and half wondering why the sun was already up. "Good Morning, my master." Raging Heart immediately greeted me. "Your schedule has been changed. You have no appointments to keep today." I coughed lightly, frowning at how my throat felt. A groan escaped my lips as I crawled off the bed and made a face at the blood stains on the sheets. "Please do not stress yourself today, my master."

**Diamond Dust II**

**By: Satashi**

Nanoha opened her mouth to reply, but a sharp pain in her throat made her stop and lapse into a coughing fit. Falling to her knees, she held her throat and tried to calm herself down. Quickly she found someone rubbing her back and offering her an inhaler, which she took. A quick dose of whatever was inside it soothed her down instantly, once again letting her breathe normally. The girl turned to look at Shamal and offered an apologetic smile. "Here, sit on your bed a moment." Nanoha found herself being helped up and she obediently sat down. "Let me observe you please."

A few minutes went by in silence as Shamal gave her a check up. "Well, good news and bad news," She spoke after a while. The blond removed the tongue depressor and sighed. "Good news is that the stuff in your system is in our records and I already got you medicine to take to cure it. Bad news is, it's an inhalant and takes a while to work. Your throat is pretty messed up, Nanoha-chan. Does it hurt?" She got a short nod. "Do you think you can talk?" This time she shook her head. "I see. In that case, the best course of action would be to take medicine and come in every day for a check up. I want you to take a breath from this inhaler every hour… every thirty minutes would be better for the first day… after that, once an hour will be fine." The woman gave her a soft look. "I'm sorry there's not much else we can do in the mean time." Her reply was a smile. "Come on downstairs," Shamal looked at her. "You might want to change shirts first, though."

Nanoha looked down, seeing her favorite night shirt ripped down the front and missing a few buttons. She let out a soft sigh and gently rubbed her chest where there were faint red marks from her nails and a soft bruise from where Fate had to get forceful with her. "Don't mind, my master." Raging Heart spoke to her comfortingly. To reply, Nanoha gave the red gem a small kiss before changing into casual clothing.

"Nanoha-chan, good morning!" Fate greeted her happily. "How do you feel?" She got a smile and a nod. "Does your throat hurt any?" Her friend shook her head. "…You can't talk can you?" Nanoha scratched her cheek, making Fate instantly start to freak out.

"Now now," Shamal Pet Fate on the head to make the girl calm herself. "She'll be able to speak again in a day or so." She smiled at Nanoha. "I already told Fate so I'll let you know as well, the necklace you have on is a magic trinket." She watched Nanoha touch the inch wide yellow necklace encircling her neck. Although it appeared to be on her skin directly, Nanoha didn't seem to even feel it. "It will monitor how well you are breathing. When it gets darker and starts turning red it means that your breath is getting short. Anything that gets close will instantly alert me so I can check on you. Eventually it will turn green, which means you are A-ok again." She gave the girl a firm look. "Nanoha-chan, please don't do anything that will make me worry?" She paused a moment. "Wait, never mind. Raging Heart, don't let Nanoha do anything that will worry me okay?"

"All Right," The necklace spoke up, making Nanoha give the older woman a pout.

* * *

"Nanoha-chan, I really think you should rest for the day." Fate told her friend as they walked down the halls of their office building. "You should be in bed!"

"_I'm fine,_" Nanoha spoke to her mentally. "_You're worrying too much._" The girl sat down at her desk and put her purse on the floor next to her. "_I have too much paper work to do; I should use this time to get caught up._" Several transparent monitors appeared around her. The female went to start typing but a sudden pain in her arm reminded her that her left arm was currently incapacitated at the moment. "_Not a word, Fate-chan._"

The blond covered her mouth, obviously pleased that her friend had just embarrassed herself. "Come on, I scheduled myself to fill in for your teaching since Vita is on a mission right now." Fate reached out for her hand and got it when Nanoha stood up and re-collected her purse.

"_It's going to be a loooooong few days._"

* * *

Nanoha's students were shocked when they saw their teacher to say the least. Rushie had instantly ran over to her and asked what happened while the others stood in disbelief at seeing their instructor with a sling and a monitoring device around her neck. "She had an accident on a mission is all," Fate informed the pink haired girl as they walked to the rest of the group. "Instructor Nanoha is unable to speak right now because of certain reasons so until she gets better I will be in charge of your training, along with Vita if she gets back before this is over."

"Ma'am!" Subaru raised her hand, getting Fate to look at her. "Will Instructor Nanoha be all right?"

"Don't worry," Raging Heart told them as Nanoha stepped up to stand next to Fate. "My master will be fine," It continued.

"_I was planning on making them run team work exercises today," _Nanoha sent to Fate as she looked at them. "_Subaru and Tia work well together already but the others just met each other so they don't have any form of unity as a team just yet."_

"Okay," Fate nodded. "We're doing teamwork today. A flurry of monitors came to her call around the girl, as well as keyboards. Typing quickly, she formed a type of jungle on the training field. "Tia and Elio, you will be group one. Subaru and Rushie you will be group two. Your goals will be to find each other in the jungle and then proceed to find the target base and destroy it."

"Ma'am!" They all saluted.

* * *

"I'm starving," Fate greeted Hayate at the mess hall, falling into a chair with a tray in front of her. "How is your day?"

"As good as it gets," She replied around a few French fries. "Not much happening right now so I'm doing standard paper work and trying to get a few A-class mages to join our division."

"That would be nice," Fate agreed as Nanoha sat down with nothing but a drink. "Nanoha, is that all you're going to get for lunch?" She watched her friend point to her neck, making her instantly feel horrible. "…It's that bad?" Nanoha looked down a moment before lifting head back up and smiling.

"I talked to Shamal already," Hayate told her, watching Nanoha take a quick puff from her inhaler before she decided to drink her fruit smoothie. "I feel so bad for you." Nanoha waved it off. "I cleaned your schedule for the next three days, so please use the time to get some rest."

"See, I _told_ you that you should rest." Fate got a mean look from Nanoha. "I _know_ you're a tough girl, but even tough girls need a rest every now and then."

"Telepathy?" Hayate inquired, nibbling her food. "That will come in handy. Too bad doing it to several people at once is both annoyingly difficult and not to mention draining."

"Ah. Nanoha-chan talks to me and I say what she's thinking."

"Ooh, how sweet." Hayate teased. "You're her words, just like a couple."

"We're not…well…. Um…" Fate looked over at Nanoha, who instantly blushed. The girl looked down a moment, as if thinking, before looking back up and smiling at Fate, nodding her head happily. "We sort of are…a couple I mean."

"Oh my, you both finally bit the bullet and asked each other out?" Hayate looked surprised.

"Seeing you two flirt all the time and it not lead anywhere was annoying!" Rein added in, flying over to them and catching the tail end of the conversation. "Honestly, you can't keep your hands off each other for five minutes and it took this long?"

Both girls looked away in embarrassment.

* * *

Nanoha looked up boredly as Fate walked into the door of their loft. "I'm home," the blond informed her as she walked over to the couch and sat down next to her lying friend. "Anything good on T.V.?" she watched her girlfriend shake her head as she flipped channels, finally stopping on something that didn't really interest her but was better than nothing. "I'm done for the day," Fate added, allowing one hand to rest on Nanoha's head, stroking it much like she would pet a dog. "Since it started to rain, I cancelled the rest of practice and told them to make different level cartridges so tomorrow I'll go over how to conserve them and when to splurge on them."

"_Oh?_" Nanoha looked up at her and crawled to a sitting position before slinging her legs over on top of her friends so she was sitting on the couch sideways. _"I didn't know it started to rain."_ Her words drifted into Fate's heart as she put an arm around her back. In response, Nanoha draped her good arm over Fate's shoulders and gave her a happy look. "_Ne, Fate-chan?_"

"Yes?" The slightly taller girl looked over at her friend, finding it amusing all their conversations today had been one-sided since she couldn't talk.

Nanoha looked into Fate's eyes and scooted a little closer. "_About last night…_" Her words were a little nervous; despite them not being spoken, Fate could still feel the uneasiness in the communication. "_Can I… hear it again? Fate-chan's feelings?_"

"Nanoha…" Fate knew how she felt as well. It had been late when the words were said, and after a very scaring moment to boot. Somewhere deep in the back of her mind she wanted confirmation as well, something more than just a nod and saying that they were a couple with a giggle. "I…" She brought a hand upward to gently trail a finger over her friend's cheek. "I really care about you," she whispered out as her hand went behind Nanoha's ear, gently pulling her face closer. "Deeply," She continued as their foreheads were placed together. "I love you, Nanoha. With everything I have to offer."

"Fa…..te…" She managed out, closing her eyes.

"Shhhh, you don't have to speak." She shushed her quietly. "I want to hear it again…but you can tell me any way you want to…" The arm around her shoulders shifted lightly and moved so Nanoha's elbow was behind her neck, pulling her body closer as the brown haired girl cuddled up on her.

Now that they were closer and touching more, Nanoha gave Fate her answer. Gently her lips found the blonde's and she pressed them together in a light kiss. When it ended, she looked into her girlfriend's eyes again, once more kissing but keeping her slate blue orbs gazing into her red ones instead of closing them again. The kiss ended reluctantly but Fate's fingers lightly threaded through her hair and gently urged her back for another contact. One kiss changed into two or three, then four or five. The number was lost after that, each girl pulling back just enough to get a little air while looking at each other longingly. The pony tailed girl took the moment to reach out her hand and form a translucent keyboard at her motion. She looked behind Fate at the monitor and pushed the buttons that would turn off the TV and also kill the lights as well. The action made Fate blush instantly, but what followed made even the tips of her ears turn red in embarrassment.

Nanoha leaned back slowly, pulling the other girl down with her as she did so. From their position they landed on the couch awkwardly, forcing Fate to change how she was laying. She ended up settling with propping herself above the girl on her hands and knees. One of her legs was between hers and the other pressed tight between the side of the couch and Nanoha's. The girl on bottom looked up at her with a gentle gaze, asking a silent question if what she just did was all right or not. Her free hand was still on Fate's neck, slowly running her finger tips from where her shoulders met her neck and up into her hairline before going back down again. The motions made Fate calm down a little and lose most of the nervousness that had grabbed a hold of her when she was pulled down. "If I start," She whispered, leaning down and putting both hands under Nanoha's neck to gently rub. "I don't think I could stop…"

"_I wouldn't want you to…_" Nanoha mentally told her, instantly getting attacked by Fate's lips. The kissing this time was more passionate, each one being replaced by another deeper kiss. Nanoha's good hand instantly went to rub Fate's back, sliding up her shirt to make contact with her skin. Their mouths became wetter, kisses starting to get more frantic and missing each other's lips in their hurry to start a new one before the old was even finished.

Before she even realized it, Fate had both hands under Nanoha's shirt, rubbing her sides and occasionally across her stomach. The warm fingers trails to the waistband of her skirt before pressing close against her skin and running all the way up to under her arms, where they looped to grab her shoulders before moving back down again. Each pass made the blonde's resolve weaken even less, finally reaching the break away point where her palms were running over the fabric of Nanoha's bra.

The girl replied with an encouraging sound, pushing her chest upwards. The movement caught Fate by surprise, making her hands slips under the fabric instead of on top as she had intended. She paused briefly to wonder if she should try and stop, but Nanoha lifted herself up again, silently asking what the hold up was. With nothing else to make her restrain herself, Fate quickly pulled her girlfriend's shirt up completely to reveal her breast. She allowed herself to pull back from her soon to be lover's lips to gaze down passionately, amazed at how even though she had seen Nanoha naked countless times before, she was suddenly turned on by the simple sight. Her hands went to work as her mouth sought out her lips again. Gently she cupped her breast and massaged, making Nanoha gasp out roughly in passion.

"Fate, stop that!" The voice made the girl instantly jerk back, shocked and scared. "No wonder I got an alert!" Fate realized that Nanoha wasn't the one who had spoken and her eyes quickly darted around, finally seeing a monitor in front of her with Shamal's red face. Fate sat up quickly, embarrassed and trying to stammer out something in reply.

Nanoha instantly shuffled behind Fate in an attempt to hide herself. She put her head behind Fate's shoulders and shakily tried to fix her shirt and button the clasp that she didn't even recall Fate undoing with her one good hand. Her breath was short and ragged from the encounter and embarrassment, making her cough slightly as she attempted to fix the last button. Finally she realized that she was starting to have problems breathing and fell off the couch, reaching for her inhaler. A quick inhale made her feel so much better that she decided to take another, and then a third.

"Oh my god, are you all right?" Fate got behind her and rubbed her back soothingly, looking at the girl in fear as she wiped the tears from her eyes caused by the sudden fright. Nanoha nodded briefly, taking a long slow intake through her nose before letting it out her mouth before nodding again as if to confirm it to herself.

"Do you have any idea how worried I was when I suddenly got a warning signal saying that Nanoha was having trouble breathing?" Shamal scolded Fate, getting into one of her rare serious modes. "I was about to run over there in the rain!" She watched Fate look over at Nanoha and, indeed, see the necklace she was wearing was more of an orange-ish color than yellow. "I told you not to do anything to make me worry, Nanoha-chan!" The words made the younger girl sink back to try and hide again, blushing horribly.

Nanoha brought her hand to her chest and tried to calm herself down again.' _I just got caught making out,_' She thought to herself, face getting hotter. '_I just got caught making out while rounding second base!_' Her mind added on for her. '_I just got caught making out while rounding second base by SHAMAL_' The final part made her lose it completely and she grabbed the back of Fate's shirt and hid her face in the hair.

"And another thing," Shamal was going on, but paused as someone walked into the room. "Ah Signum, welcome back!"

"Are you yelling at someone?" She asked.

"Yeah, you wouldn't _believe_ what Fate just did!"

"Don't tell her!" Fate screamed as the monitor blipped off. "Oh no, anyone but Signum!" The dark room stayed silent a moment, only sounds coming from the ever increasing patter of rain splashing onto the window. Fate felt Nanoha's hands let go of her shirt and reach around shakingly to hug her from behind. "Are you okay?" She asked gently, taking the hands around her and rubbing them. She got a small nod against her back and the two sat there a moment more before the brown haired girl finally stood up.

"_Let's take a nap?_" She asked silently, helping Fate to her feet and taking a small amount of satisfaction in the fact that she looked a little unsteady after the intimate relation they just shared. A nod answered her and the two held hands as they walked up the stairs. Nanoha undid her skirt with one hand and let it simply fall to the floor before stepping out if it and fumbling with the buttons to her shirt.

Fate came to her rescue and helped her, gently guiding her sore arm through the sleeve and undoing the sling so she could rest without having it pinned against her side. The blush had never left her cheeks in the first place, but she found it growing as she watched Nanoha reach behind herself and unclasp her bra. Shyly she turned around and started to undress herself while Nanoha slid on a long nightshirt that went to her knees. Minutes later, Fate was also changed, sitting on the now-cleaned sheets of the bed before crawling over to the middle where Nanoha was. The brown haired girl smiled at her, scooting closer so their fronts were touching and her face was close enough to hers that she felt her breathe. "Hey," She greeted her softly, getting a peaceful look in reply, followed by a gentle kiss. "When you get better…" She closed her eyes a moment in embarrassment.

"_When I'm better we'll continue,_" Nanoha finished for her, closing her eyes as well. "_And next time, we'll be in bed…That couch isn't really comfortable to lay on."_

Fate couldn't help but to laugh. "Okay. Next time, in bed, with nothing to interrupt us." They stayed quiet for a while, simply listening to the rain while holding each other.

"_Hey Fate?"_ Nanoha finally asked before her girlfriend drifted off to sleep. She got a small hum to show her she was listening. _"I love you, Fate._"

"_I know,_" The words drifted into Nanoha's heart soothingly. "_I know, sweetheart. I love you too."_


	3. Sea

Author's notes: This is the revised chapter three. I corrected a few things that I saw, took out some things that made characters seem a little OOC, and hopefully made it better all around. Although I know I'm not perfect, I do hope you will enjoy this new and improved chapter, now almost triple its original length.

* * *

Looking over at Fate asleep in bed one last time, I walked out onto the balcony of my loft and closed the door back silently. The dark morning light washed over me as a soft breeze blew though my hair. It was a little chilly, as I was only clad in a tight, black, form-fitting spandex outfit. The suit covered my shoulders but were sleeveless at the same time. It ran down my body, covering everything, down to just a little below of what I would consider mid-thigh. Red marks looped around my hips and ran between my legs and two triangular strips danced across my chest as well, making my breast look bigger than what they actually were. Fate had chosen the work-out uniform for me and I had chosen one for her as well, although it was white and blue. With a small hop I took to the air and instantly felt better and more alive than I had been the past day or so. The wind caressed my body as I flew towards the weight-lifting center across the lake and more in to the central part of the base. Landing softly, I took a long intake of fresh morning air and walked inside the huge building, preparing to give myself a great workout. "And just what do you think you're going to do here?" Shamal's voice instantly asked as I walked in, making me stop in mid step and start to sweat. Not even five seconds in and I was already busted…

**Diamond Dust III**

**By: Satashi**

"I do hope my favorite little injured person wasn't thinking she was going to work out and hurt her arm and possibly throat now was she?" Shamal asked happily, putting her hands on Nanoha's shoulders from behind. "No, no, surely not." Nanoha looked over her shoulder and gave Shamal the best innocent look she could muster. "What's that? You want to come back to my room so I can give you a proper physical that you have been avoiding for a month now?"

The brown haired girl shook her head quickly and stepped away, turning to face her properly. Bringing both hands in front of her, she clasped them together and bowed her head, as if asking permission. "_Please Shamal,_" She thought to her. _"I haven't done anything in two days, I'm going to be so out of shape!"_

"Nanoha-chan, you could binge on pizza and ice cream for a month and still be in better shape than most people are in after boot camp. Why do you always insist on pushing yourself so hard?" Shamal crossed her arms. "I worry, you know."

"_I'm sorry,_" She apologized, looking as if she actually meant it this time. _"But really, I'll be good; I promise! You can even watch!_"

"No means no."

"_At least let me job so my legs will stay in shape? Nothing to hurt my arm while jogging right?"_

"And get your heart rate up and make you breathe fast? No."

"_But unless my heart rate goes up, it won't be an exercise!_"

"Your hear rate went up last night and just look what happened."

The images of Fate being above her, panting her name flashed in her mind a moment just before she also recalled frantically grabbing for her inhaler. Defeated, she hung her head and allowed Shamal to escort her outside once again.

* * *

Fate sighed out as she looked at her schedule, wondering on just how she was going to be able to keep up with the amount of stress her body would endure while she took over training Nanoha's students on top of her normal duties. "So busy…"

"I heard you were getting busy last night, too." A voice spoke up as she passed someone without even seeing them.

Turning to address the speaker, Fate's cheeks instantly darkened. "Signum! You know!?"

"Aah." Signum pushed off the wall and stood in front of her, looking down into her eyes. "If you have time to molest Nanoha then you have enough time to spar with me!"

"I wasn't molesting her!" She instantly defended, trying to decide if running off and hiding to cover her embarrassment was an option or not. "I was…well…"

"Trying for third base going by what I was told."

"Signum!" Fate looked down, holding her clipboard close to her chest. "Stop it; you're embarrassing the life out of me!"

Signum put a hand on Fate's back, giving a gentle nudge to encourage her along her way. "I can sort of understand how you feel, though. I mean, you must have been sexually frustrated for months now."

"Oh my god I can't believe you said that!" Fate looked down more, letting her hair cover her blushing face which was now spreading to her ears and neck.

The pink haired woman smiled in satisfaction, knowing that if she pressed on just a little more she could probably get the girl next to her to break into a nosebleed from all the blood rushing to her head. "Well," She went on, deciding to give her a break. "Since we'll be dueling today while you're teaching Nanoha's class I'll forgive you."

"Wait, we're what?" Fate looked up and over at her, shocked.

"Yup, a demonstration of a real battle," Signum went on, patting her on the back. "Looking forward to it."

"But I can't today, I have to-"

"Think of what to tell Chrono when he finds out his little sister was making Nanoha scream out her name in throws of pleasure?"

"She most certainly did _not_ scream my name!" Fate informed, stomping her foot.

"He doesn't know that," Signum grinned. "What say, 03:00 hours?"

"You're _blackmailing_ me?"

"Yup!"

"Oh you are _so_ dead!" Fate stormed off, leaving the very satisfied girl behind her. The girl's anger slowly faded as she made her way down the hallway and by the time she reached her desk it had subdued to just being embarrassed by her words. When lunch time reached her, Fate was already having a hard time keeping the smile from her face. '_I get to fight her again!_' she mentally screamed with joy. '_It's been so long! Oh I can't wait to show her my new moves!_' Of course she wouldn't let _her_ know that at least.

* * *

Nanoha looked at the milkshake in front of her and boredly drank from the straw while keeping herself propped up on the table with her good hand. Her throat protested the movement caused by swallowing by giving her a rough scratchy feeling despite the cool treat sliding down. With a sigh she chewed on her straw without much interest in finishing her meal, despite her stomach protesting furiously that it was starving. '_When I can chew again, I swear I'm going to find the biggest, fattest steak ever and tear it to shreds…_' Her stomach growled and she forced herself to gently suck some of the shake, mouth throbbing with a dull pain.

"You okay?" Elio stood next to her. "You look a little spaced out." The young boy got Nanoha's classic smile and a pat on his head for asking. "Are you going to come watch Fate train us today?" The girl nodded at him. "Great. I'm going to head over to the training ground right now, want to come?"

Nanoha instantly stood up and tossed her half-finished drink in the trash. With a quick nod, she walked with Elio to her favorite part of the base. She was a little surprised to see Fate there, already in her barrier jacket, stretching. "_Fate-chan?_" She mentally sent out to her friend, making her look around. "_You're early._" Nanoha waved her hand above her head to let Fate see where they were.

After a wave in greeting, Fate watched her adopted little brother and girlfriend walk up to her slowly. The last few steps were jogged by Elio and he stood in front of her, saluting. Before she could help it, Fate reached out and ruffled his hair. "Ah, sorry." She suddenly remembered. "I forgot you don't like that while we're on base."

"It's okay," Elio looked away, a smile still on his face. "No one is around to see it."

"I saw it," Signum mentioned, dropping from the sky and startling the young boy. "Hello Fate, Nanoha, Elio." He nodded to them each in turn. "About ready, Fate?"

"Yeah," Fate nodded, seeing Subaru skating towards them in the distance. From another direction Tia was walking with Rushie, the two apparently having a happy conversation together. "Nice, everyone is here early."

Nanoha felt her chest get tight. All her students were at class almost a full hour early, each looking like they were excited about today's training. When they all reached her and her friends, Nanoha opened her mouth to speak to them but ended up coughing a few times and resorting to her inhaler to settle herself down. Dejectedly she sighed out and hung her head, instantly getting several people to try and cheer her up.

"Okay, let's get started," Fate called their attention and gave Nanoha an encouraging squeeze on her shoulder. "Since Signum has so sportingly agreed to come today and have a practice match, this lesson will be on following your enemy's movements. Also, since most of you use the cartridge system, it would be a good idea to notice how we use them in actual combat. There is a difference in having plenty of time to charge an attack in battle simulations and being in an actual battle itself." The blond looked over at Nanoha. "Instructor, if you would, please give us a field to battle on?"

The brown haired girl looked reluctant, but still summoned forth a city-type battle field. "_Fate-chan, please don't hurt my training ground…_"

"Come," Signum drew forth her necklace and in a flash Lævatein was in her hand.

"Right," Fate gripped Bardiche tightly, instantly making a sick looking scythe burn into life with energy.

Nanoha swallowed down her fears and allowed her two friends to fly into the make-shift 'city' training ground before waving her hand and making several screen displays appear around both her and her students. "Please observe," Raging Heart spoke Nanoha's mind. "Learn well, and improve."

Fate landed on top of a building, perching her feet on the antenna sticking out from it so she could have a clear view of the area beneath her. Signum stayed in the air several yards away from her, watching with narrowed eyes. '_Bardiche,_' Fate directed her thoughts to her weapon, making the energy flow in it increase ever so slightly. '_This is what we've been waiting for...' _

"Yes sir," The weapon agreed.

The two opponents met eyes for a brief moment before they were instantly in close range combat, a blur of their past selves fading out from where they had dashed from. Lævatein clashed harshly with Bardiche, slinging flares of energy ripping through the air between them. The stalemate ended quickly, each lashing into strikes while circling each other.

Fate swapped her hand positions in mid swing, gripping the sword between two of the pulsating energy outputs. With the new position she twisted her body and tugged hard, flipping Signum over her body and following her with a wide arc kick. The blow landed on her stomach and shot the pony-tailed woman downwards at an angle, smashing clear through a building before finally stopping in the next one over. Not pausing, Fate lurched to the side and narrowly avoided several delayed magical spears that cleaved the air where she was just flying.

"You've improved," Signium noted, appearing behind Fate and slipping both her arms under Fate's before locking her hands behind the girl's neck and pushing her down into a choker hold.

"Short ranged teleportation?" Fate coughed out, struggling to free herself from the hold. "You got new moves!"

"Did you think I would come back empty-handed?" Signum twirled around to try and disperse the momentum Fate was trying to get by spinning. "Allowing to get yourself- nnnf!- trapped, Fate?" Signum grunted while trying to keep her hold until the girl would pass out. "Guess you got soft cuddling too –nnng!- much!?"

"Don't think so!" Fate screamed, lunging downward towards Signum and slashing Bardiche. The pink haired girl barely had time to whip her body around to avoid being cut in half.

Shocked, Signum looked at the thing she had just been holding and smirked to herself. "Substitution magic?" She asked, pushing away the giant Fate- sized blow up doll that looked as if she was holding one of her eyelids down and sticking out her tongue. "So you've learned a few things as well have you?"

"When Nanoha-chan learns new magic, I'm the first one to get taught, even before the military." Fate and Signum circled each other in the air once more. "You could say I'm kind of a teacher's pet."

"So, does she pet you too?" The words made Fate blush, giving her just enough opportunity to flash forward and clash her blade against her opponent's. Quickly they exchanged melee blows, twisting and curving their bodies to avoid being cut while still moving their weapons in an attempt to cleave the one opposing them. Finally Signum managed to land a lucky roundhouse against Fate's arm, shooting her several yards away before she caught herself in the air. "All nice and limber now?"

Fate stretched out in a giant 'X' formation before rotating her arm. "Aah," She imitated Signum's speech habits, smiling. "You?"

"Very much so… Well then, shall we for real?"

"Let's shall."

Back on the ground and safely outside of the magical barrier, Nanoha bit her lower lip in an attempt to work out some of her nervousness. So far her two friends had been stretching their limbs to prepare for their fight, something that her students apparently didn't know. With a quick glance to her side, she saw the four of them watching several monitor displays of the battle. Elio was trying to break apart every move made and figure it out while Rushie was talking to him, offering her advice on the magic and if they would ever be able to do it. Subaru was acting more like a cheerleader, punching the air in excitement and cheering on Fate. Tia simply looked dumbstruck at the talent she was witnessing. In all, Nanoha was sure that her students would leave today with a much more real knowledge of the term "overpowered and outclassed."

"Load-" Fate began, thrusting up Bardiche.

"Cartridge!" Signum finished, pointing Lævatein towards her enemy.

The initial blast did no less than decimate the immediate surroundings by the two females. Bodies blurred to the human eye and magical energy roared furiously within the transparent dome surrounding them. Time and time again the barrier flinched, struggling to contain the raw energy flying around inside of it. Nanoha swallowed, pondering on just what condition her friends would be in after the duel was over. In the past they had never been known to hold back anything while fighting each other, and from the looks of the current warpath raging in front of her, this time was no different.

Two empty shells were shot from Bardiche as the blond screamed out, slashing her scythe out repeatedly. The strokes looked harmless, as Signum was far enough away to be in no danger of them connecting. This didn't stop the other girl from instantly going on the defensive, however, as she took to dodging the attacks as if she were right in front of the girl. The moves sped up and finally, on the very last stroke, Fate got her speed up enough to add the one extra twist that broke through her opponent's movements. Grunting out, Signum felt her left shoulder be blasted by the unseen force attack. As she panted, the woman allowed her eyes to inspect the damage, not surprised at seeing her barrier jacket completely torn there, as well as smoke coming up from her broken barrier. The blood was light, but still to be able to cut through not only her barrier, her auto barrier, and her armor in one swing served to make the pony tailed girl only be prouder of her rival.

Fate panted, eyes searching for any signs of attacks coming back at her while Bardiche was temporarily stunned as the excess magical pressure was released from its system. "Snake form!" The words caused an instinctive reaction from Fate, shooting her high into the air to try and get away from Signum's classic move. To her utter disbelief, the coils of chain and steel managed to get above her, starting to loop around and cut off any chance of escape that she might encounter. "You're mine!" Signum screamed, pulling the sword hilt back and tightening the chains.

Four shells were loaded into Bardiche on its on accord, giving it enough power to change its master into Sonic Form as well as shift itself into Zanber form. Fate's world became slower in motion, each heartbeat pulsing deep within her ears. The air was still and the sword links seemed to be hung in mid air, ever so slowly continuing along their path. The girl had to remind herself that time hadn't slown down, but she herself had sped up, and if she didn't move, and soon, then the conversion to her speed form would be pointless.

"Nanoha-chan, what is going _on_ over there!?" Hayate's voice suddenly screamed, a large image of her appearing on top of all the other displays in front of the girl on the ground. "Do you have any idea of the number of calls I've been getting about a disturbance in your training ground!?" Nanoha waved her hands as if to say 'It's not my fault' and turned the display around so Hayate could see the battling girls. "Oh not again! Stop them this instant, if they keep on then the barrier will collapse!" The brown haired girl scratched her cheek while Hayate continued to freak out. "Nanoha-chan, please!"

"_They'll tire themselves out soon,_" She spoke mentally to her friend, feeling a small drain from her power as she used long-distance mental communication's magic. "_No need to get hostile with them?"_ Nanoha waved her hand, putting Hayate's image to the side so the girl could also see her displays. "_We're recording this, we could maybe even use it as some sort of battle simulation program in the future? How to fight an S-class mage maybe?"_

Hayate gave her a begging look. "Nanoha-chan, that's not the problem everyone is worrying about!" large teardrops came to the corner of her eyes as she pleased. "Stop theeeeeemmmmmm!"

Fate dodged quickly, feeling the tip of Signum's blade lightly run across her side. Bringing her own sword up, she slashed once. The swing missed its intended target, but still continued on, as if the very air itself was sliced from it. Countless buildings were cleaved in half, crashing onto the ground with shattering glass and breaking concrete.

Signum twirled in the air, flipping over Fate and hanging upside down. Her sheath clamped onto the end of her sword handle, merging with it. '_In that form I can barely keep up with her…_' A bow string appeared as Fate righted herself from the move, pulling the heavy sword up so she could hold it properly again. '_That sword is too heavy for her, so she is using her sonic form to ensure that her defenses aren't open after a wild swing… If I can make her lose the sword then I won't be in danger of any long range aerial disruptions…_'

Eyes widening, Fate turned around just in time to see several shells launching from the now formed bow. "Damn it!" The words barely escaped her lips as the arrow was fired. Catching it on the wide blade of Bardiche, the girl was hurdled backwards through two buildings before cracking against a cement support column in the third. Sliding down it slowly, Fate coughed up a little blood. '_Not good… I think I dislocated my shoulder from that attack… In this case…_'

Signum flew into the building quickly, seeing Fate now wielding her scythe again with one hand. Pressing forward, she engaged before the girl seemed to have her wits about her again. Slashing quickly, she managed to off-set her and land a round house, slinging the petite girl into the wall, where she landed roughly, not moving. The pink haired warrior walked towards the un moving body slowly, panting roughly from all the magical energy she had been using the past half hour. Normally her battles only lasted five to ten minutes, and this extended full power play was starting to eat into her core, as well as her cartridge supply.

The air around them grew dark as thunder roared loudly outside the building. Rain instantly started falling and lightning cracked furiously around them. Signum paused, looking around. '_Wait a second; it shouldn't rain inside the barrier…unless!_' With a flip of her sword, she sent Fate's un-moving body up into the air, where it slowly floated down. This dummy doll was smiling at her broadly, clearly part of Fate's sense of humor. As she flew quickly outside, Signum looked up in the sky. The real Fate was in the air, gathering a massive ball of lightning with her device. "You little trickster…" Signum grinned to herself, loading four shells into her sword. "Don't you dare think I don't have a counter for that…"

Nanoha gasped loudly as she observed the screens in front of her. '_That kind of power will blow the barrier to pieces!_' she thought quickly, looking over at Hayate, who seemed to be having a spaz fit. Fate, having plenty of time to summon the energy needed, slung her attack downwards to her opponent. The motion made Nanoha grin despite herself. The teacher in her couldn't help but notice that the girl had rather nice form.

The explosion was ear-shattering. Chunks of debris and rubble from the now plain training field flew thick around the area, revealing the two forces still clashing, now with melee moves since their magic powers were almost completely gone. "Ah, that last blast damaged the training ground!" Hayate cried out. "That will take weeks to fix!"

Raging Heart was already in Accel Mode, aiming at the two girls in the sky. "_I'll blast them both down in one shot!_" Nanoha's mind screamed out after seeing her precious training ground hurt.

"Count X," Raging Heart stated, magic circles embracing its body and extending the distance. "Count IX. count VIII, count VII," Elio, knowing the attack, grabbed Rushie and slipped her into his arms, running away. Subaru and Tia, both shocked at the amount of energy being displayed, stayed right next to her. Two cartridges fired from Raging Heart next, making pink glowing feathers rip around them as an after effect. "Count N," The device finished. "Starlight breaker." Nanoha narrowed her eyes, ignoring Hayate screaming at her that she was probably going a bit overboard.

The blast immediately slung Subaru and Tia into the air from the force of it, making each bounce once on the ground before rolling a few times to a stop. The energy flared dramatically into the sky, breaking into a large explosion when it collided with the two flying girls in the air.

When the attack faded and the air around Nanoha stopped sparking with energy, she made a face while looking at her arm, which was throbbing dully in pain. Two large splashes followed, each from their respective duelist. "Mouuuuuu!" Hayate yelled at her. "Nanoha-chan, do you have even the slightest notion of how much I am going to have to BS to cover your little temper tantrum!?" She got a soft smile in return, as if she was apologizing. Sighing out, Hayate sat down at her desk. "Okay, punish them however you like. I'll just say you were demonstrating how to break through a barrier and a magical limiter not working properly… You owe me for this!" Hayate looked to the side as several monitors appeared by her, demanding to be addressed. "You owe me _two_ for this!" she added in, looking as if she was about to cry. "A huge banana split sundae! With all the toppings, you're treat!" The screen blipped out from view just as Fate crawled onto the land from the water, coughing lightly. Signum followed her shortly, panting out as she pulled herself up to a standing position.

Both girls looked at each other uneasily, cloths torn in several places and magically drained from maintaining their device's auto shield from Nanoha's attack. The image of said friend stepped up to them, glaring hard. Two seconds were given to them to brace themselves before the frustrated girl instantly lashed into a mental scolding on both of them.

Elio blinked, watching Nanoha throw out her arm in frustration before stomping her foot and leaning forward. The girls in front of her recoiled in shock before each bowing repeatedly as Nanoha continued on. "That," Elio spoke to Rushie, who was still holding onto his arm with one hand. "Is the funniest thing I have ever seen in my life." They continued to watch the silent scolding and Nanoha's over dramatic body movements that stressed her anger.

* * *

"Are you still mad?" Fate asked, peeking out of the bathroom and over onto the bed, where Nanoha was already curled up, hugging a pillow. When she didn't get an answer back –mental or no- she quietly crept through the dark room and crawled into bed next to her. An attempt to touch the girl backfired when Nanoha scooted away, puffing out her cheeks. "Come on, don't be like that…" Fate crawled a little closer to make up for the distance and tried again, this time being able to rub her arm. "It'll be fixed before Shamal releases you to full duty again, don't worry."

"Mou," Nanoha muttered out. "You destroyed… my training ground!" The liquid medicine Shamal had forced her to gargle a few hours ago did wonders for her mouth, allowing her to speak in short burst without even her tongue protesting.

"Just shorted it out," She reminded, sitting by her and encouraging the girl to roll on her stomach so she could rub her back. "Don't be mad at me Nanoha…"

"Mm," She chose to leave her answer at that, closing her eyes and mentally deciding that if the backrub was good enough she would forgive her friend. "Keep rubbing… I'll think about it."

Pleased at being spoken to again, and actually _hearing_ the words, Fate straddled her friend's waist and scooted the shirt upwards so she could properly massage her back for her. "How was your check up?" She continued to run her hands over her friends back a while longer before she was responded to.

"Good… Shamal said I should… be able to speak properly… tomorrow sometime if… I kept using the inhaler and gargle…that god-awful stuff… for as long as I can… stand it."

Nodding, Fate leaned over and gently kissed the back of her friend's neck. "Get better soon."

"I'll try." Nanoha sighed contently. "Keep rubbing."

"My hands are tired," She protested faintly but continued to do as she asked. "I've been doing this for almost ten minutes."

"Like three," She countered, getting comfortable. "Consider it punishment for… breaking my beloved training area."

"So having your beloved's hands fall off is better?" Fate pondered aloud.

"You're a strong girl." Nanoha nodded to herself and enjoyed the rubbing along her back and sides a moment longer before Fate took it to her arms, being careful of the bandages, and finally paying special attention to her neck. "That's wonderful…" She breathed out, feeling herself get drowsy. She felt Fate's hands go back down her spine and proceed to rub out the tight spots on her leg muscles as well. "I see why you… like this so much…"

"Don't get used to it, then I won't be rubbed anymore," The blond protested, finally going back to straddling her waist and leaning over so her front was touching Nanoha's back. "There, I'm done. My hands can't stand anymore." Nuzzling their cheeks together, Fate asked again. "Forgive me?"

"I suppose," Nanoha agreed finally. "But if you do it again… you'll have to rub my back more… and a foot massage would be… nice as well." She felt her friend get comfortable, still half laying on top of her. "Cuddly tonight?"

"Maybe," Fate answered evasively, wrapping a hand around her girlfriend's stomach and trailing a finger along it. "Be sure to get lots of rest tonight, I have a surprise for you tomorrow."

"Oh?" Nanoha embraced Fate's hand, keeping it from tickling her. "What is it?"

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?" With a giggle she gave her friend a re-assuring hug. "Just wait for it. Until then, sweet dreams." Fate closed her eyes and allowed her cuddle toy to get comfortable before settling down as well. She got a sleepy good night in return and soon they were both asleep.

* * *

Subaru walked down from the residential area of the 6th division's section of the base with a light yawn. It was Sunday, which meant she had the day off from training so her body could rest. Despite this, however, she found herself only able to sleep in until seven in the morning, which was still an hour and a half later than she normally got. Upon exiting the building she made her way across the grounds and pondered on what she was going to do for the day when something bumped into her, almost making her fall over. "Ah, sorry," A voice greeted, hand going to her shoulder to help steady the girl. "Wasn't looking where I was going."

"It's okay," She dismissed it, looking at the person. The male was blond with glasses, long hair flowing out behind him in the wind. The golden strands were kept neat by a green silk ribbon, tried in a bow near the base of his neck. What Subaru noticed the most, however, was the person was wearing civilian clothing. "Are you here to visit someone?"

"Yes, actually. I was asked to visit the mess hall to find him when I went to the building over there." He pointed to the office building a little ways off. "But thing is, I don't know _where_ that is since this is my first time on this section of the base."

"Oh, well," She grinned; not like she had anything better to do than show the cute man around. "Its right over there, I'll walk you if you want?"

"That would be great!" He smiled at her, pocketing the small map of the base he had held in his hands. Together the two made their way back to where Subaru had originally came, this time -however- She went into the main frontal part of the building instead of the side door which she exited from.

"Please be on your best behavior," A guard greeted them at the door. "Admiral Chrono Harlaown is visiting his family here today."

Subaru almost went stiff at the knowledge. The entire mess hall was almost quiet, voices kept low as if not to bother the extremely high ranking member inside. Looking over the room, she spotted the admiral near the far side close to the large glass windows that looked over the lake. Almost no one sat close by him, probably too afraid they would offend the man in some way and get de-ranked. Although she had heard that Admiral Chrono was a nice person, she didn't dare want to interrupt his time with family. When she realized that Fate was sitting across from him, facing towards the rest of the mess hall, she felt herself get even more nervous. Fate was training them currently, which meant that _might_ get to shake Chrono's hand later on.

"Oh nice, there he is." The blond male said happily, walking past the guard and heading over to where Chrono and Fate were.

"Wh-wait a moment!" Subaru hissed at him. "Don't go near them, it's rude!"

"Nah," He laughed, still walking over to the almost empty part of the room. He caught Fate's eye and held a finger up to his lips. The girl acted like she didn't notice him and returned her look to Chrono, now with her lips slightly upturned into a playful smirk.

"What are you going to do?" Subaru whispered, trying to get the male to come back.

Standing behind Chrono, the man waited until the admiral in front of him took a drink of his orange juice before grabbing his shoulders. "Hey Chrono!"

Chrono instantly jerked in his chair, spilling his drink a little and almost spitting it out all over the girl in front of her. Fate broke into laughter, having to cover her face to save herself from getting too loud. Subaru on the other hand could only think one thing as the admiral turned around to glare at them. '_Oh sweet god, I'm about to be court marshaled._'

"Yuuno!" Chrono gasped out, standing and saluting the boy, previous actions already forgotten. "You damn ferret, how you been man?"

"Great!" He saluted back playfully. "Fate told me you were going to be here as well so I came looking for you."

"I see," Chrono looked at the woman beside him, who immediately went ragged and saluted quickly and solidly. "Who's your friend?"

Yuuno looked over at her, seeing the girl too scared to speak. "Actually, I never got her name,"

"Private Subaru Nakajima!" She instantly declared, looking straight ahead of her into Chrono's eyes. "Time-Space Administration bureau's 6th mobile division, under the care of Flight instructor Nanoha, sir!"

"At ease, Subaru." Fate leaned over to look at them. "We're all friends here."

"You're in Nanoha's unit huh?" Chrono mused, looking her over. "You're still in one piece, I guess she learned to control herself after these years."

"Sir, yes sir!" Subaru saluted again since she was once more being spoken to. The back of her mind told her that Nanoha still had temper tantrums when she got upset but she didn't dare voice those thoughts aloud, let alone to the youngest person to ever reach admiral ranking.

"Yuuno!" A sudden new voice filled the room. Before anyone could move, the sandy-blond found himself tackled from behind, making him take a step forward to regain his balance. "Oh my gosh, Chrono too!" a brown ponytail flipped over Yuuno's shoulder as the girl who had tackle-hugged him let go and hugged Chrono next. "I haven't seen you both for ages!"

"Nanoha," The two males greeted her happily, each getting another hug.

Subaru was in another state of shock as she listened to them talk with each other a moment. When Nanoha asked Yuuno how the infinite library was going, she instantly let out a small yelp when the pieces clicked together. Yuuno Scrya, head of research and chief librarian at the infinite library. Alongside Chrono, the boy received more honorable mentions than anyone else around him, even having captains of ships fight over possession of him into their ranks. "S-sir!" Subaru saluted him now. "Please forgive me for my rude behavior earlier, sir! I didn't know who you were!"

Yuuno blinked a moment before turning to Nanoha and pointing at her. "Is she always this nervous and strict?"

"Actually, she's normally the one disregarding the rules," Nanoha replied nervously, taking a puff from her inhaler before continuing. "I think she's just nervous for some reason."

"Oh, you're the trouble maker Nanoha keeps talking about!" Chrono realized, making the blue haired girl sweat lightly. "She said you reminded her of herself all those years back." Looking over at Nanoha, Chrono smirked. "Man you were a lot of trouble. At least Fate followed the rules and orders.

"Oh as if!" She countered. "Fate-chan broke more rules than me, she just didn't get caught!"

"Which means they never happened," Yuuno nodded to himself. "Or at least they didn't happen after I erased them from the log books.

"I _knew_ that was you!" Chrono pointed. "I should have you court marshaled for doing that!"

"Oh just try it," Yuuno crossed his arms and glared playfully. "Make one move and I'll use my network to place your picture in the 'anything goes' section of the universe's sleazy magazines, boy love of course."

Chrono's face paled. "Right then," He cleared his throat. "Anyway, Nanoha, I heard you were hurt?"

"Yeah, what's up with that?" Yuuno pondered as well, putting a hand on his hip. "When Fate called me I hurried over as fast as I could, and you're already bouncing around like always." He pointed to her inhaler that was still in her hand. "And that is?"

"My inhaler," She grinned lightly, moving to sit at the table, making everyone else also do so. "Long story short, I inhaled something I shouldn't have. This thing keeps me going."

"And the magic monitor device around your neck?" Chrono put his chin on his hands in front of him.

"Ah, this thing?" She pointed at her neck where the cheerful green necklace was slowly circling. "Shamal is monitoring my breathing. I think I'm completely better, but I'm still using this breather-thingy until it's empty, just incase."

"And your arm?" Yuuno looked at Nanoha's arm. "Fate said you were wearing a sling."

"Ah… I'm kind of supposed to be…" She grinned lightly. "But I really don't think its necessary… Wait, Fate-chan told you all this?"

"Aah," Chrono nodded, ignoring Fate waving her arms lightly in an attempt to make him be quiet. "She told me that you were mad at her so she got the ferret and me to come visit to try and cheer you up."

"Oh really?" The girl turned to look at Fate. "Was you that worried I'd make you sleep on the couch?"

"No…" Fate looked down, letting her hair cover her blush. "Well… Maybe a little."

"Nyahaha." The brown haired girl leaned over and kissed the blonde's cheek. "Thank you, Fate-chan."

"Oh god they're getting all huggy again." Chrono sighed. "Gag me."

"Leave me alone, I'll cuddle if I want to," to prove her point, Nanoha scooted closer to Fate and slid underneath her arm, so it was around her shoulders. "Nyaaaa." She stuck her tongue out at the boys, who were chucking to themselves. "Oh, by the way, we have news for you two."

"We do?" Fate pondered, looking down at her.

"Yes we do," She confirmed before looking at the males. "Fate-chan and I are dating officially now!"

This time Chrono really did spit out his orange juice on the girl in front of him. "You're _what_!?"

"Ewww, gross!" Fate whined.

"Congratulations!" Yuuno added in at the same time.

"Wait, you're gay?" Subaru asked before she could stop herself. "Oh wow, that's so cool!"

"Half-gay," Nanoha stuck out her tongue while her girlfriend cleaned herself up. "Guys are still hot too."

"Like me," Yuuno added in, leaning his chair back on the hind legs. "People thought we were dating for years."

"Yeah, that sucked." Fate agreed, pouting. "I got jealous sometimes."

"Of ferret-boy?" Chrono pointed to his side. "I can handle my sis being gay since you obviously look happy, but I can't cope with anyone being jealous of him."

"At least I didn't knock up a girl when I was twenty!"

Chrono's eyebrow twitched lightly and his body shifted, as if he just moved his leg. The next moment, Yuuno let out a yelp as his chair flipped over backwards. The rest of the people looked at him suspiciously, but his face remained impassive. "What?"

* * *

"So this is the training ground, huh?" Yuuno asked, looking around as they walked onto the blue hexagon ground. "It's supposed to create solid virtual reality situations isn't it?" He shifted Nanoha lightly as they walked, as she decided to ride him piggy-back style since they haven't seen each other in months.

"It does, yes, when it's not broken." Nanoha looked over at Fate, who flushed. "It's top of the line in battle simulation!" She continued to rant about the details that her training field had, once more slipping into her 'gaga-over-gadgets' mode.

"She seems to be fine," Chrono spoke to Fate, looking out into the lake. "You seemed really upset when you called me so I was worried."

"Sorry. Thanks a lot for coming." Fate smiled up at him. "It'll do her good to see everyone again. You weren't here for the worst part of it, but she lost her voice and use of her left arm for two days. She can talk fine now, but Shamal still has her on a strict no-solid-food diet just incase she coughs while eating she won't get anything lodged in her throat and choke. Poor girl has been living of fruit smoothies and milkshakes." She covered a giggle. "I caught her last night sneaking into the kitchen to eat some brownies but I stopped her… She made me sleep on the couch for the rest of the night, though."

"Hehe, so you _did_ get kicked out of bed." He smirked. "That's awesome."

"Mou, you're supposed to be supportive, _brother_."

"Okay, _okay!_" Yuuno cried out, sweating lightly. "Nanoha honey you're talking my ear off again, and that's pretty bad when I can't even follow along with you."

"Hey!" She pouted. "I haven't been able to speak for days, cut me some slack!"

"I'll cut you some slack all right. Right into the water!" Yuuno walked over to the edge of the field and turned so Nanoha was hovering above the clear blue liquid. "Don't make me drop you."

"I'll take you with me," She warned.

With a grin to his friends, Yuuno let go of the girl on his back. At first he braced himself incase she tried to pull him in as well, but found that she simply gripped him harder, arms circling his neck and choking him as she held on for dear life. It didn't' take the book worm longer than six seconds before he reached behind himself and grabbed Nanoha's legs, hoisting her back up onto his back and panting out. "You tried to _choke_ me!" he accused.

"You tried to _drop_ me!" She teased back at him. "Serves you right."

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah!"

Yuuno jogged a little bit into the training ground before stopping and facing the lake. "Then get ready to go for a swim!" Gripping her hard, he ran full speed towards the water, making the girl on him gasp out.

"You'll get soaked too!"

"Try me!" Yuuno leapt into the air, letting the force carry him sailing. When he didn't dare risk it anymore, he closed his eyes and changed shape.

Nanoha gasped out as the person she was holding onto suddenly vanished. She felt a small bump against her chest and when she looked down, she saw a ferret falling under her, barely grabbing a hold of the edge of the grounds and scrambling up before he sank. The next thing she knew, Nanoha splashed into the water. It took her a moment to comprehend what was going on before she swam to the top and broke the surface. "You cheater!" She accused, watching the animal shape shift back into a human. "No fair!"

Laughing, Yuuno walked over to the edge and offered his hand to the girl. "Oh come on, that was funny!" Smiling at her, the boy helped his friend up out of the water.

"Then don't forget to laugh," she cooed, pushing her feet against the edge of the ground and forcing herself backwards. Her friend yelled out before falling as well, landing in the water along with the one he was trying to help up. When the two resurfaced, Nanoha splashed him happily.

"You little tramp!" Yuuno went to splash her back, but stopped when he heard the uncontrollable laughter coming from their two friends. Yuuno met her eyes and the two hopped up onto the solid ground and grabbed Fate.

"H-hey!" She cried out as Yuuno got her hands and Nanoha snared her feet. She felt herself topple over and be carried between the two over to the edge. "D-don't!"

"One!" Yuuno slung her forward, still gripping her. The motion made her rock back and the pair got more force when they moved the girl forward again. "Two!"

"Three!" Nanoha cheered, slinging poor Fate into the air, where she flailed out helplessly before splashing into the water.

Upon surfacing, Fate spit out water and growled at them. "Jerks! I'll get you for this!" She turned to look at Chrono, who was covering his face with a hand, trying to keep his laughing fit under control. Not one to be out done, she threw out her hand, latching around her brother's ankles with a magical binding chain and tugging on it, ripping him into the water as well. "Ha!"

"Swim time!" Yuuno declared, running and jumping back into the water, doing a cannonball. Nanoha followed him quickly, although jumping on top of Fate and hugging her in the water, making her blush darkly.

* * *

"What a day," Nanoha sighed out happily as she sat at the kitchen table while Fate put up their groceries. "We got to see everyone again, go swimming, shopping, browse the mall, even ride go-karts and play put-put-golf." She giggled to herself at the memories. "Shamal even removed the collar and allowed me to eat real food for once…" She looked over at Fate, still laying on her arms. "Thank you for dinner."

"Don't mention it," She replied happily. "I knew you would be starving."

"I ate enough to make up for it, though." She giggled and stretched. "I'll be in the living room okay?"

" 'kay, I'll be there in a moment." Fate watched her friend leave the room and go around the corner. When she was no longer in sight, Fate allowed herself to smile brightly, pleased at how the day turned out. Her friend was successfully cheered up and she even managed to have quite a good bit of fun herself. A noise caught her attention next and when she stopped to listen she heard Nanoha above her, apparently in the bed room. Moments later she heard her friend descend the stairs and plop onto the couch. "Want anything before I come in there?" She called out, putting up the last of their things.

"No thanks," Nanoha called back, watching the kitchen entrance for her friend. "Go change cloths and get comfy," She told her friend as she unfolded a blanket.

"Sure," Fate noticed that Nanoha had already changed into a skimpy tank top and boy shorts when she had gone upstairs. Grinning, she went to her dresser and rooted around, finding the matching set that she had. The clothing was exactly the same as her friends, only she had a light blue and her girlfriend had pink. "Any movies on?" She called out, looking over the balcony as she changed cloths.

"Not yet," Nanoha was surfing the channels "There's something neat on the military channel about new weapons."

"Figures that's what you'd be interested in," Fate signed. She loved Nanoha to death, but if she saw anything that was new in either weapons or magic spells, she had a bad habit of tuning out everything else around her and focusing just on that. Walking down the stairs, she stopped and looked at Nanoha, who had a blanket wrapped around herself.

The pony tailed girl looked over at her friend and smiled while making a beckoning motion with her hand. Fate looked at her with an amused look but still walked towards her none the less. The motion was repeated and the shorter girl opened up her arms to spread out the blanket. One leg was running along the couch while the other was hanging off it, offering the blond a seat between her legs. Fate decided to take the offered seat and plopped down with her back to Nanoha's front, instantly getting a hug and snuggled from behind. "Caught you," She whispered in Fate's ear softly, bringing her other leg up and laying it on top of Fate's closest leg and under her other. "You can't escape," She continued, nuzzling her much like a kitten would.

"You're in a cuddly mood tonight, huh?" Fate giggled to herself, allowing the signs of affection happily. "So tell me," she ventured on. "Now that I can't escape, what will you do with me?"

Nanoha wrapped her arms around Fate's shoulders and pulled her closer, allowing their bodies to touch. "Snuggle," She replied easily. "And… one thing I've always wanted to try, if I may?"

"Hmm?"

Nanoha gently moved her nose against Fate's neck, nudging it so she would lean over and expose her shoulder. The loose strap from the tank top fell over her arm from the movement and allowed Nanoha to go about her small desire undaunted. Very gently she touched her lips to her girlfriend's skin in a small kiss. The motion made Fate tense up slightly, closing her eyes as Nanoha's lips pulled away, sticking lightly from the flavored chapstick that was worn. "Is this okay?" She whispered softly into the ear of the girl she was holding.

"…Yes," Fate slowly brought up a hand from the blanket and reached back, lightly threading her fingers awkwardly into Nanoha's hair. Encouraged, the brown haired girl closed her eyes and once again placed her lips on the shoulder, slowly kissing up to her neck. Ever so gently she put her mouth on the soft spot between her neck and shoulder and started to suckle on it lovingly. "Aahhh…" The soft gasp of air came out in a long whisper. "Nanoha…"

The girl only pulled back when she needed to take a breath, looking at the wet spot where she had just been, seeing a red mark on the milky white skin that she was sure would bruise. "Fate…" her hands hugged her tighter, once more leaning down to kiss a new spot and repeat the motion. A soft moan came from her girlfriend, the hand in her hair trying it's best to massage where it was placed. '_Tonight,_' She thought as she rubbed Fate's stomach in a slowly circle. '_Tonight we'll show each other how much we truly love one another…_'

* * *

The End.

Autho's notes: I hope you enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it. I'd like to give a special shout out to the people at shoujoai dot com for their support, without them I would have stopped this story a while back. Sequal to this will be made shortly, entitled "Emerald Dream", that will be rated "M" and contain the actions immediatly following the end of this chapter.


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